Editor:
Welcome to the North.
Welcome Northern Gateway Joint Review panel members to the Bulkley Valley to hear our stories.
I should tell you I am not welcoming you as a hereditary chief of the Wet’suwet’en people.
I am not a Gitxsan chief.
I am not a member of the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.
I am not First Nations.
I am not a member of the New Democratic Party.
I’m also not a member of Forest Ethics, Greenpeace, Living Oceans Society, Pacific Wild or Friends of Wild Salmon.
I don’t sit on the board of the Suzuki Foundation, the Raincoast Conservation Foundation or the Sierra Club of B.C.
So who am I? Simply put, I am a northern resident who respects the land and streams that are essential to my well-being and the well-being of those I care about.
As a northerner, how do I feel about Enbridge’s proposal?
I don’t like it, but a more important question is what can I do about it?
Well, with respect to the proposed pipeline, I will continue the many conversations with my fishing partners and friends along the shores of our great rivers and waterways.
Those who speak out tirelessly against the killing of our fish through the imminent spills of Enbridge bitumen.
I will stand in opposition with First Nations people upon whose territories Enbridge proposes to trespass.
I will support the educational efforts of environmental groups whose warnings Enbridge has ignored.
I will remind you, as panel members, of the hard work of geologists and scientists who have studied and rejected this flawed project.
I will continue my friendship with Friends of Morice-Bulkley and Friends of Wild Salmon.
I will continue my respect for the many First Nations leaders, NDP members, federal Liberal members and Smithers Town Council who have shown political courage and opposition to piping bitumen through our watershed and running supertankers up our passages.
I will stand with all northerners involved in direct action against the construction of a pipeline used to transport bitumen to the Douglas channel.
Thank you for coming to hear my story.
Please enjoy your visit to our valley.
Rich De Rooy
Smithers
